Hospital hierarchies are fostering sexual harassment against young doctors

As issues of sexual harassment and toxic workplace cultures are gaining more coverage in the media, it has surprised people to read such accounts by doctors and surgeons. People may wonder if these accounts could possibly be true, and if so, why highly trained professionals put up with being demeaned and sexualised at work. We are three doctors who have studied the phenomenon of sexual harassment and abuse of doctors and medical students, by doctors. As clinicians we have worked with survivors of sexual abuse by fellow medical professionals. The experience of being demeaned and sexually harassed while performing their work is commonplace for female health professionals. Internationally, 59% of medical trainees experience bullying and harassment, with 33% experiencing sexual harassment . In a large survey by the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons , 30% of female surgeons reported experiencing sexual harassment, in most cases by a male surgical […]

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